The last few days we’d noticed that the resident feral cat “Miss Mama” hadn’t been looking great. While she was friendly and would let us pet her, she was never as tame as an indoor cat, which meant we didn’t see her up close a lot. When the weather warmed she started spending her days out hunting in the woods around our home instead of in the garage, so we saw even less of her. When she was around, she’s follow us around the garden and even took a shine to Lucy, running over to rub on her whenever she spotted her outside.
We hadn’t been seeing much of her lately and figured it was because of the nice weather. When we spotted her the other day we noticed she looked very thin and wasn’t walking very well.
We finally caught her Tuesday evening and immediately knew it was bad. She was weak, could barely walk, and her liver was failing. There wasn’t much we could do, we put out a heating mat to keep her warm and didn’t think she was going to make it through the night. She may have caught a mouse or a chipmunk that someone had poisoned and as a result it poisoned her. Or perhaps she wandered onto someone’s lawn that had just treated it with chemicals, which is also very hard on pets. A sad reminder that often our expedient measures to treat a problem or pest result in consequences that we didn’t intend.
She made it through the night, but looked even worse the next morning and could barely walk. We knew it was time. We carried her out and put her on the side porch to enjoy the nice weather while we made some preparations.
We have a tradition in my family that pets are always buried on the property (all of our previous pets are buried in my parent’s garden). The cats always get a pussy willows planted over their graves and the dogs get a dogwood tree. I set out to decide where I wanted to plant a pussy willow, for this would determine Miss Mama’s final resting place.
While I’m very sad that Miss Mama is gone, I can’t be too sad. Outdoor cats have a life expectancy of 2 years – she was about that old. They have to deal with the harshness of nature and the expediency of humans trying to deal with pests. It’s the price we pay for the joy that animals bring us. I know that Miss Mama had a wonderful year and a half of life here at Chiot’s Run. She had delicious pastured chicken to eat, a warm cozy bed in the garage, the freedom to roam the woods hunting and be a cat. While we would have preferred for her to live a longer life, at least her life here was good.
We still have one garage cat left. If you remember, Miss Mama moved her kittens into our garage last summer. One kitten survived, she’s known as “Little Softie” or “The Sweets”. She’s a burgundy black cat now, full grown. Hopefully she’ll be able to avoid Miss Mama’s fate, she doesn’t seem to wander as far. She was brought to this garage at about 5 weeks old, so this is home to her.
We buried Miss Mama up in the front garden and I’ll get a start from my mom’s pussy willow that is growing over Jeffrey, our first cat’s grave. I placed a bouquet of wild flowers over her grave, perfectly fitting for our wild (yet tamed) cat.
Today we’re very sad still that Miss Mama is gone, but we really appreciate the joy she brought us. As our first garden cat – she was perfect! We’ll miss her chirpy meows, her padding around the garden behind us, the moles she left by the car and the great personality she had. So long Miss Mama, we’re sad to see you go, but happy you chose to spend a year and a half at Chiot’s Run!

As you say though, she had a good couple of years with you – she looked very happy and in great condition – and she won’t be forgotten, so at least that’s something.louisa @ TheReallyGoodLife´s last post ..Chickens and dogs &amp cats

Oh I’m so sorry. She was such a beautiful cat, her eyes were just so lovely. She was lucky to have you, and you her. Experiencing that love and respect, even for a short time, is transformative, and you gave her a beautiful life and a dignified, peaceful passing.Tasha @ Voracious´s last post ..My Front Yard

What a pretty girl. It is sad she is gone. While her life was short, contrary to popular belief, I think cats are happiest when they are allowed to be outside doing cat stuff. Mine are indoor/outdoor for the 6 months of bare ground and are much more content then.

Miss Mama was a beautiful girl, and it sounds like she had a beautiful life with you. I love your tradition of planting pussy willows for cats and dogwoods for dogs. So sweet.Jessica´s last post ..Hope is always the most important

Oh, so sorry to hear about Miss Mama. Losing a pet that you are attached to can be very difficult. I love that you bury her on the property and mark it with a plant. It’s a wonderful idea.Katrina´s last post ..Crazy Tomato Tower!

Aw BOO. Our outdoor, mostly-wild cats often meet a bad end of one kind or another. You can either keep them closed up in the house, safe, but not really living like a cat, or let them out into the big, dangerous world, where bad things happen. It’s sort of expected, but no less sad when it happens.kristin @ going country´s last post ..Better Late than Never

Sorry to hear this news. It’s really tragic to think that it could have been a neighbor that caused her to get sick. I’m sure all the animals around your property appreciate that you keep it chemical free and safe for them to roam.Kaytee´s last post ..New Flower Bed

I teared up while reading this at work! Susy, I’m so very sorry for the loss… I will very much miss seeing Miss Mama.

To this day I am angry when people bait and poison “pest” animals to benefit their own lives – hence why I choose not to!

And I adore the idea of the particular trees to befit the passing of your pet. When my boyfriend’s parents cherished dog passed I gave them “black” columbine flowers to plant with her, their “Black Knight”.
You still have Lil’ Softie to keep you company! ♥

I’m sorry for your loss, and thankful you posted about it because it gave me a different perspective about the first cat I lost 3 years ago…instead of kicking myself for not doing enough, being able to say that I gave him a good life while he was here. Also love your idea of planting pussy willows or dogwoods where they’re buried. My sympathies.Melanie J.´s last post ..This is why Im superstitious!

I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. I relate to your pain–I have recently lost my dear chocolate lab and the guard llama for my goats. I have found some comfort in reading this:http://www.petloss.com/rainbowbridge.htm

I am so very sorry for your loss but it does sound like you have provided a wonderful home for Miss Mama, and she has left your with a living legacy of her in the terms of her little one.farmgal´s last post ..Dried Dates-Don’t overlook this very cheap fruit!

I first started gardening about a year and a half ago and was rummaging around the internet for information on how to grow things. That’s about the time when I happened across your blog – you had just written the first post or two about Miss Mama and her little kittens. I immediately connected with your compassion and have been reading every day since. Your blog is the highlight to my day and one of the few things I look forward to in the morning :).

I’m not the sappy kind, but thank you for taking care of these little guys. The fact that there are people out there willing to take such wonderful care of our furry friends, ‘wild’ or not, makes me believe that the world isn’t going to hell in a hand basket. And of course, I’ll miss reading about Miss Mama.

I’m not one to cry but your story has created a few tears here. The tender way in which you wrote about her was very touching and it warms me that there are people like you. May peace be with you and Miss Mama. Om Shanti Om!Herb Bennet´s last post ..The Science of Hydroponics

I’m so sorry for your families loss. It is never easy when we lose one of furry family members. I hope your grief is quickly replaced with all the happy memories you have of Miss Mama.Margaret´s last post ..Gift of Jars

I am sorry to hear of your news, but I must say if Miss Mama picked your home to live at for the last 2 years she was one smart Mama. She was beautiful – it is never easy to lose a family pet. Little Softie is beautiful, I have never seen a cat with those colors!!
LYL Jing

Tears from me. I have always loved cats and live with many. You gave her a good life and a respectful end. I care for a couple of colonies of feral cats. They are about 10 years old and one little cat is 3 years old. But you are right there are so many dangers for them. I wish they all had safe homes. As others have also said Miss Mama was BEAUTIFUL!!

oh man! She was a good girl and I am glad that she spent most of her life with you all. I love the photo of her looking into your eyes (green eyed cat). You have many wonderful photos and great memories of her time with you. Having Miss Softie around it nice. I love that you call her a “burgundy black”! I have never heard that term and it is so true of her color. That is what my Cinder looks like (black with red hue). Love it “burgundy black”!! EmilySincerely, Emily´s last post ..I have a foot fetish

I’m sorry for your loss, my friend. Whether they are indoor or outdoor animals, they touch our hearts and when they are gone our hearts hurt. We were talking briefly this weekend about losing Ollie and it made Shaun and I both cry AGAIN. It’s been 8 months and it is still fresh. With you spending so much time outdoors, you naturally got very close to Miss Mama. Sorry, my friend. One less kitty to watch cat TV at night. =) I’m glad you still have Lil Softie and the Luce to keep you company in the gardens.

We keep our domesticated cats indoors, but Miss Mama and Little Softie were just feral cats that moved in. They’re “pets” in the sense that we provide some food for them and they’re allowed in the garage, but they’re left to roam and hunt like they would have naturally. We did trap them and have them spayed but they’re way too wild to bring indoors.

Being indoors does have it’s downsides, it limits their ability to be cats as nature intended. You have to decide what you want for your cat. Long life or a more natural life for them. I find my outdoor semi-freal cats are much healthier mentally than my indoor pets – both because they’re doing what cats love to do and they’re eating their natural diet. We have one cat that we might make an outdoor cat because he seems to long to be outside. He was a stray that showed up on the porch a few years ago. Trying to domestic outdoor cats isn’t always a success!

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but just recently moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine.